'We failed Mendy': Mets players react to Carlos Mendoza firing
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — After Carlos Mendoza had been dismissed by the Mets on Friday morning, Francisco Lindor heard an apology by his former manager that the shortstop did not believe was merited.
Visit turconews.click for more information.
Mendoza was let go with the Mets after they crumpled to a 34-47 record at the midway point of the season. The team's players, Lindor said, bore that responsibility as much as their manager or president of baseball operations David Stearns who constructed the roster.
"At the end of the day, this is not on him," Lindor said. "It’s more on us, the players, that we haven’t played to our capabilities."
When Lindor learned that Stearns took responsibility for the disastrous first half, he pivoted and said the players "failed Mendy."
Bo Bichette agreed. He felt the only time that a manager loses his job is when the players underperform.
"Essentially, it's all of it," Bichette said of the player's level of responsibility for Friday's decision. "If we were playing better, he'd still be here. It's just unfortunate he had to take the fall."
How the Mets feel about Andy Green taking over
With Andy Green taking over as interim manager, the Mets are now on their seventh manager in the last nine seasons. Mendoza was one of the only holdovers from last season's coaching staff with the front office replacing their hitting coach, pitching coach and bench coach, among other positions, heading into the 2026 season.
Green has spent the last three seasons as the club's senior vice president of baseball operations but has managerial experience, leading the Padres for parts of four seasons between 274-366.
"He knows most of the guys here. He understands Stearns, he understands the philosophy and to be honest, I think he probably helped a couple of the younger players to be in the big leagues today," Lindor said. "I actually talked to him about defense in spring training and Kai (Correa). It’s a familiar face, so I think this is going to be more about us continuing to push forward, attack day in and day out."
It will be Lindor's fifth manager, including Carlos Beltran who did not lead the team in an game, in his sixth season with the club.
It is the third managerial change in Major League Baseball this season, with Don Mattingly taking over the Phillies from Rob Thomson and leading them to a 33-17 record over the last two months. Chad Tracy has moved to the helm of the Red Sox after Alex Cora was fired and produced a 23-29 record entering Friday.
"You never know," Bichette said. "I've enjoyed my interactions with Andy so far, but I think the goal for us remains the same. We gotta come here every day and try to win ball games and be the best players we can be."
Mets look toward second half for turnaround
The Mets enter Green's tenure leading the Mets on the heels of a dispiriting four-game sweep to the Cubs and entrenched in a six-game losing streak.
Lindor rued the team's lack of execution on their way to an ugly start.
"We gotta stick together. We have a responsibility day in and day out to come in and be professional and win games," Lindor said. "Because this move was made doesn’t mean the season is over. We still got 80 games. There’s still time and we got to go out there and just do as best as we can day in and day out to try and win as many games as we can."
The Mets now face the Phillies across three games at Citi Field. They are 9.5 games back of the final National League wild card spot.
Stearns understands that a switch cannot simply be flipped with Green to turn the tide. The players understand that as well. How the Mets finish the season under Green will speak volumes about their ability to respond.
"There's a lot of talented players in here, so there's no secret sauce to winning," Bichette said. "If there was, we'd be winning. Maybe we just got to figure it out."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 'We failed Mendy': Mets players react to Carlos Mendoza firing